Decimation
by ToxicalityIssue
Summary: Two lovers are torn apart when the end of the word has come. Nuclear war forces people into shelters and leaves Tom for almost a year and a half without seeing his true love. Will he ever find Bill now that it's safe to be on the surface?
1. Prolougue

It's been a long time since I've seen the light. I'm not sure that it even exists any more. I haven't heard the screams of the dying, nor have I heard the sounds of death and decimation for quite some time. I'm hoping to God that the world above me still exists. I'm tired of hiding. I'm tired of not knowing if he still exists.

It was maybe half a year or more ago that this all happened. Of course, war and violence had been happening for a long time before, but about six months ago, mankind hit rock bottom. And since then, as many of us as possible have been trying to get away and escape. Some survived, but most of us did not.

The world had been in an all out war. Each country was fighting with every country, an all out world war. I'm not sure if I even remember what started the war. And if there is anyone who does know how it started, I'm pretty sure that they're all long since gone by now. But what caused the war doesn't matter in the big picture. All that matters is survival.

It wasn't long before the nuclear war began to start, and we were all running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Murders, robberies, rape, and any kind of crime you could picture happened as we all began to lose hope of being civil with one another. I still remember his face, how horrified he looked as we were separated…

Everyone had begun to fight for what little supplies remained as mankind began to blow itself up, and had begun to run down the path of destruction. It wasn't long after that it had all begun to happen. Countries began to get paranoid. Many citizens began to commit suicide in fear of what was going to happen. Everyone in the world had seemed to lose their hope. But that didn't surprise me. I'm only shocked that I managed to survive somehow.

It had to be a month or so after this all began before things got as bad as possible. America had been developing new technology to keep itself safe and to rid itself of everyone around it. They were selfish bastards who only cared about themselves and not the rest of the world. Like where I'm from. Germany. How could people be so selfish? But then again, everyone was their enemy.

America developed some crazy bomb that was the strongest and most destructive yet. Some scientists predicted that the bomb would bring in the apocalypse. They were right. Needless to say, America finally launched their super bomb and ended up blowing themselves up, as well as the whole world. Those who were smart had predicted this and had created shelters under the Earth. They brought as many of us with as possible, but there wasn't enough room for all of us.

When they took us down into the shelters, I tried so hard to keep him by my side, but I failed. We got separated as one group of people grabbed me and the other grabbed him. I remember holding my hand out to grab him, and I remember the feeling of our hands grabbing. I thought I had succeeded and had a good enough grip on him to be able to pull him close to me, but soon the grip I had on him was severed by the crowd of screaming people.

I remember the look of terror in his wide chocolate brown eyes as we were pulled apart. My hand had slowly slipped from his and the last time I touched him was when my hand slid from his and our fingertips groped for each others', touching one last time before he was swept away. The last time I saw him, he was slowly smothered by the crowd. I don't even know if he was saved, or if he was blown up with the rest of the world.

My only hope is that he was taken to some other underground shelter. I'm not sure I there are any more shelters in Germany around our area, but all I can do is hope that there are and that he's safe and sound in one. For these six months, he's been all I've been able to think about. He's all I can dream about as well. I hope to God that we can see each other again, but I'm not sure at this point.

I've been stuck down in this god forsaken place for way too long now. I'm not sure what world exists above me, but all I know is that when I get out, my only goal will to be to start searching for him. Does he even still exist? Does he remember who I am? Does he miss me too? Time will only tell.


	2. Chapter 1

It's been about a year now since this all started. A whole year without any real light. A whole year without fresh air. A whole year without him. When this had all happened, the underground shelters had stockpiled as much food and water as possible. Everything that wasn't found to be a necessity was cast aside, including my favorite candy and my soda pop. I'm not sure why this still bugs me because I should just be happy that I'm alive. For now.

A new person seems to die every day around here. Some people just can't take the emotional stress of having their loves ones ripped from them and having nowhere to go, while others just aren't physically fit to be living in what was probably once a mine that God only knows might collapse on us any day. Other times, however, people just kill themselves when they see no point in staying around. I used to want many things in life and had any purposes. Now, my only purpose is to find the one I lost.

The people around me go sort of crazy when one dies. Although, desperate times call for desperate measures so maybe I'm just the crazy one. When one of us dies, a small group of people cook them and eat them. While this is utterly disgusting and something that I would never do in a million years, it's also helpful. You know how when you die and if you're buried, the creepy crawlies find their way into your casket and eat you? Well, consider this group the worms. Without them, there'd be too many dead bodies decomposing. They take the bones and other parts and use them as silverware and jewelry. As sick as that sounds, it's nowhere near as sick as the fact that I've grown used to the smell of rotting flesh.

I've made a few friends here, I guess. Their names are Gustav and Georg. Gustav was in a police academy and was a promising new student who was saved to be a part of the future. If there even is one. I'm not really sure what Georg did. Part of me wonders if he was just some kind of freeloading stoner who really just didn't do anything. I saw him light up quite a bit when we first got down here, but his supply ran out nearly a month later. I wonder if he just got caught up with the crowd like I did. While it's nice to talk to these guys, they all have their quirks. I suppose it's better than having enemies. I've seen the cannibals eyeing me.

Gustav was the one who had grabbed me and pulled me away from my lover. The first thing I did when I got into the shelter was punch him square in the face and begin to beat the living daylight out of him. I guess I should have thanked him for saving my life or something, but in a way he ruined my life. I've learned to forgive and forget, though and if I'm ever making it out of here alive, I want him on my side.

Georg was different I guess. The second week we spent down here, I found myself alone in a dark part of the shelter, bawling my eyes out, wondering what I had done to deserve this. I was so depressed and I don't think that I could have ever gotten myself to continue living if it hadn't been for him. I guess he really is a friend of mine. I was sitting there crying so hard over him when I heard footsteps.

"Care for a puff?" Georg asked me as he sat down and nudged his joint towards me.

"Thanks." I sighed as I took few long drags and coughed, handing it back to him, trying to hide my crying, causing him to laugh softly.

"You know, we've all had great pain in our lives." He sighed and turned to face me, a pathetic and sympathetic look on his face.

"Why is this happening to us? Why?" I groaned as I once more began to cry.

"There are many why's in life. Like, why did my dad abandon us? Why are we here? Why didn't I fuck that hot blonde chick when I had the chance? Why do birds look like they want to kill us? Why is it that every night my hand seems to find its way down my pants?" He grinned and nudged me again.

"That's disgusting." I laughed and shook my head, looking down at my hands before I realized I had put something in my mouth that he had touched with his probably tainted hand. "Do you know if they packed hand sanitizer?" I huffed.

"Sorry JT, I don't think so."

"JT? That's not my name…What are you talking about?"

"Justin Timberlake. You know…Cry me a river!" He had started to sing, making me groan in frustration. Never again would I let a stranger see me cry. "So what's your name?"

"I'm Tom." I held my hand out before I thought twice about it and quickly retracted it.

"Georg." He laughed. And that was that. That's how he became my friend.

I'm not sure what's more annoying to me, being called JT all the time by some strung up stoner or being friends with a future police officer. Sure Gustav was nice, but he drove all of us crazy by how strict and orderly he was. We had begun to call him "The General" in private because he ran that shelter like it was an Army boot camp. I don't think he meant to be so rough, but maybe that was just how he coped with everything going around. When he wasn't ordering people around or criticizing them, I would see him gazing at a gold locket he wore around his neck, which had a picture of himself and a girl. I wish I had carried a picture of Bill with me wherever I went. Maybe I would feel less lonely then if I had his smiling face staring up at me like nothing at ever happened. Like I wasn't heartbroken and helpless.

It had to have been another month or so when the greatest news had come to us all. It was finally safe for us to leave this hell hole and walk about on the surface. We could go to the other shelters and find our loved ones. We could go and see what was left of our houses. We could finally breathe.

Georg, Gustav, and I had come up with a game plan. We were going to check things out at Georg's old place first, go to Gustav's, and then find Bill. We wanted to get the two stationary targets out of the way before we ran around trying to find someone who was probably running around trying to find us. Berlin is a pretty big city, so I don't think I was very hopeful that I would find him soon anyways.

The second that the hatch to the shelter was opened, the three of us jumped out, expecting to see a lush green city with tall skyscrapers. We were expecting butterflies and trees, gardens bushes. However, nothing could brace us for what we saw. The earth was torn up. What had been beautiful green grass was now a yellowish brown color. The air around us was clear, but was no doubt polluted from the bombs that had gone off. The skyscrapers had gaping holes in them, steel beams and pieces of glass hanging off of buildings like dangling bits of thread. Despite the extreme damage, a few buildings survived and when I looked farther ahead, I could see green. I hoped to God it was grass. I hoped that side of the city was normal.

So the three of us ran for it. We ran as fast as we could towards the bright green that we thought was grass. We hoped to see the houses sitting perfectly in rows, puppy dogs chasing their tails, and little girls playing hopscotch on the sidewalks. The second we reached the green, I felt like I would throw up. I was sick to my stomach. What we had thought was grass was a pond; the water turned an electric, sickeningly neon green. I looked up and saw the houses and how there was hardly anything left. The sidewalks and roads were all chewed up. I couldn't believe my eyes. I was terrified.

Since everything was pretty much blown up to shit, chewed up by the skies, and thrown up back onto the ground, it made it very hard to navigate. There were maybe five or so street signs around the neighborhood we were in. Thankfully, Georg still remembered how to get to his house from where we were. So we followed him there. Surprisingly, his house was still standing. Well, we could see the frame of the house and one wooden beam still stood.

Georg led the way into his house. We weren't really in anything seeing as we were pretty much outside, but then he led us down into the basement. He explained to us how his mom told him to go into the city to apply for a job, while she was going to be reading downstairs in the basement. Already I felt dread coming to my body.

Sure enough, when we got to his mother's couch were she loved to read, there she was. Dead. She was pretty much a skeleton now after all of this time, her hair stuck to her scalp, having burned parts of her clothes, skin, and hair to her body from the heat of the bomb. There were maggots on her body, crawling around in her eye sockets and everything. The second I saw her, I immediately had to turn around and throw up.

"Mom?" Georg blinked and poked his mother's shoulder, causing her head to snap off of her body and fall into her lap, causing me to once more vomit my stomach out.

"I don't think she can hear you." Gustav replied rather emotionlessly.

"I guess you're right huh?" Georg laughed and plopped himself down on the couch next to his dead mother.

"That's…fucking…sick…" I whimpered through teary eyes that came from my constant puking. I should have learned not to look at her, but I figured I'd see a lot of this so I might as well get myself used to it.

"I'm gonna go raid the medicine cabinet." Georg announced as he jumped to his feet, coming back five minutes later with a bowl filled with pill bottles, stuffing all of them into the backpack he had carried while sitting next to his dead mother.

"I uhm…" Gustav coughed and sat on the other side of Georg's mom, looking down at the head in her lap. "I…like her hair."

"Are you…fucking…kidding me?!" I tried to communicate through cycles of puking, my voice as loud as a mouse.

"Oh thanks man." Georg laughed before his face became serious. "Wait…Do you want it?"

"NO! Oh God, no!" Gustav's eyes grew wide as he sat there mortified.

"Are you sure? If you want it, you can have it."

"I said I don't fucking want your dead mother's god damn fucking hair!" He yelled in disgust.

"Suit yourself." Georg shrugged and picked up his mom's head, pulling the maggots off of her and eating them, clearly hungry or something. All I knew was he was fucked up. By this point I was sure I'd thrown up my organs. Georg smiled fondly at his mother's skull and went off and washed it, coming back with it before he had stuffed the head into his backpack, zipped it up and smiled at us, saluting in a manner to let us know he was ready to go.

"You're…One…Fucked up…Individual…" I coughed and wiped my mouth, pulling my eyes from the sight of his mother and nearly bolting up to the surface, wiping my teary eyes on my sleeve before Gustav led us to his house.

His house was nothing more than the flat surface of his floor with few objects around. The only thing that stood was his bedroom. He nearly bolted there before he stopped in the door frame. I had never seen someone collapse so fast in my life. I walked towards the door frame and looked in, seeing a charred black body laying face down on the bed, it's hand reaching for a picture of a beautiful blonde girl and Gustav. I instantly saw what I feared most. What if this was how it was with Bill? Was he dead?

Gustav had lost all of his composure, doubled over on the ground as he sobbed and dry heaved. I knelt down beside him and rested my hand on his back, rubbing it soothingly as I just stayed there for him, to give him silent support. I stared at the girl and blinked before I realized it. She hadn't died initially but was so burned to a crisp. It must have taken all of her strength to make it to the bedroom, to try and grab that picture so she could be with the one she loved when she died. The poor thing never reached it, having died nearly an inch away. I stood up and grabbed the picture, staring down at it.

"You know, she was really beautiful." I commented to Gustav, offering him the picture of the two of them.

"Thank you, Tom." He wiped his tears, struggling to pull himself together as he took the picture and stared down at it, at her. He smiled sadly to himself and slipped it into his bag, standing up as he walked to the bed and sat next to her body, his hand moving to brush the dead hair out of her charred skeletal face. He leaned down and kissed what used to be her forehead, whispering to her of how he loved her and that they'd be together in whatever Heaven there was.

Georg had clumsily fallen into the bedroom, slipping pill bottles into his backpack, laughing hysterically, his eyes nearly tearing up. When he saw the sight before him, he stopped laughing and became really serious, looking at the two of us with Gustav's dead girlfriend. Gustav looked up at him, no energy in him to yell at the man. He stood up and made his way through the closet to get clothes for himself, stumbling on his girlfriend's favorite necklace, slipping it around his neck to rest against his chest under his shirt, right against the locket he wore.

"I can tell she must have had a really nice ass." Georg laughed as he moved to sit next to the corpse on the bed, spotting a diamond on the dead girl's finger, smirking slightly to himself.

"Excuse me?" Gustav responded coldly as his eyes narrowed.

"Engaged?" Georg asked, grinning.

"Yes. Why does that concern you?"

"It doesn't." Georg smiled and laughed to himself, leaning down as he tried to pull the diamond ring off of the corpse's finger.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Gustav yelled and pulled out his gun. Naturally, all guns were banned in the shelters, but not for police officers and officials. Lucky them.

"Ooh, big gun. I'm scared." Georg laughed and pulled away from the corpse, leaving the ring on her finger before he put his hands up and got onto his knees on the floor.

"What are you on?!" I yelled to him, not knowing what the fuck this lunatic found to be so funny.

"Everything and anything." He laughed, his eyes tearing up again as he nearly rolled around on the ground laughing as he looked up at Gustav pointing the gun at him before his high eyes turned to eyes of terror and he began choke, coughing and sputtering.

My eyes widened in shock as I looked at Gustav. Gustav instantly dropped to his knees and tried his best to save the guy, but nothing worked. It wasn't long before he became very still. I screamed out in shock, scared that Georg had overdosed in front of my very eyes.

"Take his clothes. They should fit you." Gustav sighed as he stood up.

"I'm not wearing a dead guy's fucking clothes!" I yelled out in shock, my eyes instantly tearing up.

"Take. His god damn. Clothes." Gustav growled, pointing his gun at me. I was about to do so before I heard laughter and looked down in shock. There Georg was laughing and looking up at us.

"Ahaha! You guys just got Punk'd!" He yelled out as he absolutely howled with laughter.

In a flash, Gustav yelled out and pointed his gun at Georg, firing. I yelled out in shock and dropped down lay in a ball on the floor, scared that this fucker had gone postal. I heard screaming and I had thought that I was done for. That was before Georg spoke again.

"YOU SHOT ME IN THE FUCKING ARM!" Georg yelled out as he sat up and stared down at his arm.

"You'll get over it." Gustav huffed as he grabbed a bandana from his dresser drawer and wrapped it around Georg's arm. "Are you ready to stop being an asshole now?" He stood up and walked to the door frame, waiting for us. I stood up shakily and coughed, trying to seem like I had been tough and not just acted like a little pussy.

"Whatever happened to justice?" Georg groaned as he stood up, walking to stand next to Gustav, fastening his backpack onto himself, wincing as he put his shot arm through the loophole.

"Justice?" Gustav shook his head, taking one look at his dead fiancé. "Justice can blow me."


	3. Chapter 2

We must have walked for days, maybe even weeks. I had lost track of all time ever since that fateful day when the world was blown to hell. Every once in a while the three of us would take a break to get some sleep or to find something that was edible. There was no filling yourself up on cheeseburgers from McDonald's. There were only scraps left behind, eating like a scavenger, and never feeling full. There was no hospitality, no lodging, and no comfort of any kind. If we were lucky, we would find a bed somewhat intact and sleep in shifts, the other two of us on guard while one slept.

We had to stay on guard because the people had gone crazy. There was no government. There was no police. There was absolutely no order. I was so surprised that it wasn't incredibly chaotic. Sure, the people would kill someone without thought now, but for some reason, they all seemed to be controlled. It was as if some law had been put in place to keep them from acting out. We were outsiders in an unforgiving world. They mostly ignored us as they walked on. We could never get a good look at them because they simply paid us no attention. It wouldn't be until later that I would actually learn what was happening.

"Wake up JT, we have to keep moving." Georg shook me awake. I merely threw my hand up and smacked him upside the head.

"My name's not fucking JT so stop calling me that or I'll have Gustav shoot your other fucking arm." I growled as I stood up and wiped the sweat off of my forehead.

Every since the explosion destroyed and changed our world, it had been about as hot as the sun's surface. I had long abandoned my three layers of shirts, carrying them in a backpack I had found, along with other supplies I randomly picked up. It was tough as hell living in the world we were in. It had only been a week since we came out from the shelters and I already had a crazy tan.

"Ooh, someone's testy today." He laughed before he downed a fistful of pills, walking away from the bed.

I sighed and followed him to where Gustav was waiting. When I caught up to them, we started walking more into the city, our shelter having been a bit farther away from the city. I looked to the two guys I was traveling with, my only friends in this new world, listing silently to what they were talking about, but my mind was wandering elsewhere. I was thinking of Bill. What if he really was dead? What would I do if he was gone? Would I kill myself or would I live a hollow life without him? We continued to walk until we spotted a few outsiders like us. That's what the controlled people called us. Outsiders.

"Hey friends." One of them walked up to us. He looked to be in his thirties. "My name's David."

"That's Tom, and that's Georg." Gustav shook the man's hand. "My name is Gustav. Former police officer."

"Nice to meet you three. We're fleeing from the city. The Controls are forcing everyone out. If you don't flee now, they'll line you up for execution." He sighed softly. That's what we outsiders called the other people. They were the Controls.

"Is that what they call themselves?" I asked. I didn't know much about the Controls. "Can you tell me everything you know about them?"

"The formal name that they call themselves is the Loyal Subjects of the King, Children of the New World." He rolled his eyes with a shrug. "They're brainwashed is what they really are. They are a group from the other side of town. The other bomb shelter caved in and killed nearly all of 'em. The ones that survived, the Controls killed off. The Controls found shelter in an abandoned mental institution near the shelter. Surprisingly, it wasn't bombed. It did leave them all mutated though." He sighed softly.

"Wait. Did you say that the other shelter caved in?" I groaned loudly as David nodded. There was no way that Bill was alive. I was sure of it. "How did it mutate them?"

"Their voices have changed. They don't sound anything like they used to. It's almost like their voices were kissed by angels. They almost sing as they speak. Only a few of their voices changed though. Those one's we call the Deceivers. They sound like angels, but kill like devils. The Controls call them the Voices. Then there are the Lookouts. Their eyes were affected. The color of their eyes are bright red and they can see much better than any human with perfect vision can. They call them the Eyes. Some of them couldn't handle the mutations and just died off." He continued.

"So what's the deal with them though? They just all hang out together and worship each other?" Georg asked with a blank expression.

"No. Remember their name? They are the Loyal Subjects of the King. The one who started the rebellion has been named their king. He isn't just a normal human anymore anyways. He's a Deceiver, a Lookout, and a Snake." He sighed.

"A snake?" The three of us asked in unison.

"They call it a Charmer. He's the worst of them all. He has this charm that he won them all over with. He's the only one who has it, so I doubt it really was a mutation. He was probably just a charming guy who could easily persuade others. They say he looks like an angel though. They say he was handed down to them from God himself. They worship him like the air they breathe. He gives them an order to kill, and they kill. They protect him with their lives. The Controls walk around in all black cloaks with the hoods up, but not covering their faces. They wear war paint as well. I think the different symbols mean different things to them but I'm not sure. But look, the Controls will be coming this way in any minute to chase us off. We've got to get going. It was really a pleasure meeting you all and good luck." David nodded to us before he and his group had started to run for the hills.

"What the fuck is that shit?" Georg had laughed. "As if I'd believe that. What is this? A fucking fairytale?" He rolled his eyes before he began to walk towards the city, spinning around when Gustav stopped him.

"I think it's safer for us to go to the hills. If this cult really is there, I don't think we want to risk getting killed. I only have my issued gun and a taser. They probably have machine guns and since I'm a cop, they'll probably have an out for us to begin with." Gustav sighed.

Gustav and Georg argued for a moment before they turned and began to head towards the hills, obviously expecting me to follow them. When I didn't, they turned to see what was up. But I wasn't there. I had run full force towards the city. I had to find out if Bill was still alive or not. There was no way I could possibly run to the hills. I had been waiting for a year to have this chance. I had to know.

I could hear Georg and Gustav's voices in the distance calling for me. I knew I was out of their vision, but that's what I wanted. I found myself on a city street, looking around at the destruction of the city before I could hear unfamiliar voices growing louder. I looked around and spotted two figures in black cloaks with war paint on their faces. One had red eyes. So, maybe David didn't lie to us. He was right.

I looked around before I noticed an empty trash bin, climbing in it and closing the lid. I waited until the two were out of my vision and out of my hearing range before I jumped out, groaning at how horrible I smelled. I smelled like foul, rotten garbage. Before I could figure out what I should have done with my foul-smelling self, I heard an amazing sound. Music. I hadn't heard real music in over a year.

Naturally, my feet began to wander towards the sweet melodies of rock music. I could hear guitars and drums. I began to run towards the sound before I stopped at the building where the sweet melodies had to be coming from. It was a club. All the skyscrapers were nearly demolished and almost all of the places were demolished. I was shocked to find a nearly fully intact building in front of me. My hand went out to the door knob, twisting it before it opened, hitting me square in the face and knocking me on my ass on the ground.

I groaned and rubbed my head before I looked up, my eyes widening at the sight above me. It was a Control. Their eyes were bright red and they had different patterns painted onto their face in different colors. I couldn't help but wonder what the different patterns and colors meant. It was a girl, no older than sixteen, glaring down at me as if I was a sewer rat they were going to kill. To the Controls, we outsiders were nothing.

"An outsider, eh? You were given an hour to evacuate. Were you not aware of this?" She growled down at me.

"No…" I spoke as if unsure of myself, hopping up to my feet as I towered over the girl.

"So you're just going to play dumb, outsider? You were to evacuate to the hills. Do not make me alert the king. He _will_ send out an order for your death."

"Who is this king anyways?" I growled down at her. She was wasting time that could be spent finding Bill.

"It's none of your concern, outsider. You will never be allowed to see him. Why fill your head with things that will never matter to your life?" She asked me.

I gave her one long glare before I turned around and ran, ignoring the yells that came from the girl. Her orders for me to stop meant nothing to me as I ran at full speed to hide inside an abandoned office. I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the ground and curled my legs up to my chest, staring down at the floor. I had to find Bill. But then it dawned on me. The king may have known where he was. If Bill had survived, maybe they took him in as their own. It was worth a shot.

I broke off a leg of a chair and left my safe office building, looking for something to light it up. I finally found fire. The Controls had to be lighting the streets with torches instead of electricity since electricity didn't even really exist anymore. I lit up the chair leg and began to walk down the street. I had stolen a few sticks of dynamite from a dead guy when walking with Georg and Gustav. I took them from my backpack and lit them, throwing them into buildings as I kept on walking, making as much noise as possible. I walked past an old crowbar and picked it up, swinging it and knocking the remaining glass out of windows. I continued to blow things up and break things before I saw the Controls coming at me at full speed. I turned around to run, but more Controls were coming. I was cornered.

"Do you really want to die that much, outsider?" One of them asked me, pulling out a rather large and intimidating gun, pointing it at me. "Because I can make that happen."

"Take me to see your king, or I'll blow us all up." I growled at him as I pulled my last stick of dynamite out and held it threateningly close to the fiery chair leg I held in my hand. He must have been a Deceiver because his voice sounded almost angelic. It made me sick.

"Easy, easy. Very well then. We will take you to where he is…but don't think he won't order us to kill you the second you're in there." He frowned.

I nodded and dropped my weapons as one of the Controls poured the green liquid that was now our water on the fire, extinguishing it immediately. The Deceiver motioned for me to follow him while other controls formed sort of a formation around me, to stop me from escaping. I was now playing by their rules, but that was okay. If I could find out how Bill died, I could die in peace. I just needed to know.

"We will tell him of what has happened and of your request. But for now, you will wait with the other prisoners marked for execution. Should he be in a merciful mood, we will come and retrieve you." He ushered me into the abandoned mental institution and lead me up to a white padded room.

"Gustav! Georg!" I called in surprise to see my friends in there. They had been arguing, but shut up the second they saw me, their eyes wide before they glared at me.

"This is all your fucking fault, you know." Georg growled at me. "What the fuck man?! You just fucking took off. We went looking for you but the Control fucking got us." He growled as I sat next to him.

"Excuse me?" The Control guard that had led me up to the room growled at him. "That is not our name. We are called the Loyal Subjects of the King, Children of the New World." He nearly spat out.

"Whatever Deceiver." Georg rolled his eyes, obviously making the guard even angrier.

"Is something wrong twelve?" Another guard came up to him. "The King is willing to see you." He spoke to the guard.

"Whoa! Your parents named you twelve?!" Georg blinked and laughed at the guard. The guard simply rolled his eyes and walked off to wherever this "King" was.

"The King has given us all numbers as our new names. The King has said to us Loyal Subjects that our previous names reflect who we used to be. Our names are now numbers, which gives us an easy way to identify ourselves." He left us before he shut the door on us.

"They really are brainwashed." Georg sighed softly. "This 'King' sounds like a real mental patient. Pretty fitting for this building isn't it?" He frowned.

"Yeah." Was the only word I could manage to let slip from my lips as I sat back and looked up at the white walls. At least they were more comfortable than the places we slept at.

It was at least three hours before the guard had come to get me and escorted me to a rather huge room, in which there was a sort of see-through material draped over a bar. Behind it sat a figure that I couldn't make out because of the fabric. It must have been the King. Next to each side of the king stood a bodyguard, eyeing me down and studying my movements to see if I would try and attack their King.

"You may sit." Came the most angelic voice I'd ever heard in my life. I cleared my throat and nodded, sitting down on a cushion on the other side of the makeshift curtain. I was quite glad to sit anyways. His voice made me dizzy and forced butterflies to fly in my stomach.

"I need to ask you something." I started slowly before I gained up enough courage to say it. "I know you're going to kill me, but you must answer my question so that I can at least die in the right place of mind."

"I will do as I please, outsider. You may ask what you wish, but I may refuse to answer if I choose to do so. Please keep this in mind." He spoke in that angelic voice again that had me swooning. Now I know what David had said about how they called him a Charmer.

"I'm sorry. It's just…I was separated from the only love I've ever known. I need to find him…I need to know what happened to him. If he's dead…I need to know." I sighed heavily and twiddled my thumbs, looking down at my lap. I had hardly noticed that I was crying.

"So your love is a 'he' then?" He asked. "You do not need to cry, outsider."

I nodded as he spoke to me and sniffed. "Wait…How can you see that I'm cry-" I cut myself off before I remembered what David told me. "Oh…The Eyes right?"

The King laughed softly, and what a joyous sound it was. "Exactly. I've taken a liking to you, outsider. Perhaps I should keep you as my jester?" He laughed again softly.

"I just need to find out what I happened to him…What happened to Bill…" I whispered softly.

"What did you say his name was? And your name?"

"His name was Bill. My name is Tom. We met about eight years ago…Since we met it was as if we were drawn together like a magnet. It's a punishment worse than death to not know where he is."

"I'm sorry. I cannot tell you what happened to him." The King sounded a little strained as he spoke, making me all the more curious.

"You know what happened to him don't you?! Please! You must tell me! Please…I love him…" I had begun to cry once more, not really feeling the hot tears drip down my weathered face.

"Yes, I know what happened to him, Tom." He sighed softly.

"Please. Where is Bill?" I begged him.

"Fear not, Tom." The King's voice sounded joyous once more. "For he is talking to you right now."


End file.
